blogombal Chapter 632 Colangelo's New Ideas Were Defeated by Lin Tian
Chapter 632 Colangelo's New Ideas Were Defeated by Lin Tian
While various bigwigs were employing their own strategies to strengthen their teams and trying to improve their rosters, Lin Tian had already returned to China by plane. There was still another Men's Basketball World Championship to play in Japan this year!
Since 2000, the Chinese team has won the world championship three times in a row. This time, they are determined to win again. Their goal is to win the world championship for the fourth time in a row and the World Championship for the second time in a row!
With Lin Tian, Yao Ming, and Da Zhi in the NBA trio, the Chinese team naturally attracts attention from all sides and is the top favorite in this World Championship!
Yes, number one!
Regardless of how many championships the Chinese team had won before, when major bookmakers and media outlets gave their odds and predictions for winning the championship, they would always choose the American team as the first choice without hesitation, as they all trusted the American team to win the championship.
After all, with that all-star lineup of heroes, who wouldn't be confused?
But this time, things have changed!
This time, the Chinese team finally topped the odds list for the first time, becoming the number one favorite for the World Championship.
As for the reason, it's not that people suddenly have a better opinion of them or think they are stronger than they were two years ago.
The biggest reason is that the US team's roster was announced much earlier this time!
Their list caused an uproar!
Countless fans, Americans, and top teams around the world couldn't help but frown.
What are the Americans trying to achieve by deploying such a lineup?
Did they give up on the championship?
The reason why people question the strength and power of the US team's lineup is quite simple.
This lineup looks just like the US second team!
Garnett, Duncan, O'Neal, Kobe, Iverson, McGrady—none of the league's top superstars are included!
Or to put it another way: there are almost no players over 25 years old on this team!
Point guards: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Kirk Hinrich
Shooting Guards: Dwyane Wade, Ben Gordon
Small Forwards: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier
Power Forwards: Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire
Centers: Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor
The head coach is Mike Krzyzewski, a top coach from Duke University who has dominated the NCAA for many years but has never wanted to join the NBA.
That is, Coach K.
这一支球队基本上是以02-05这4届新秀为绝对核心所组建起来的，除了肖恩·巴蒂尔这个领袖气质十足的3D型球员之外，其余的球员全都没有超过25岁。
The leader of this team could be LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, or Amar'e Stoudemire.
But no matter who they are, they are not yet the best or top stars in the league, and some of them are not even the absolute core of their respective teams.
This team is all about youth and endless possibilities!
This is the real reason why Colangelo assembled this team.
What he wants is a team with perfect chemistry, a team that can play together for many years, a team that can play together in at least four major tournaments, and a team that can cooperate from 2006 to the 2012 London Olympics!
This time, he chose the future and tacit understanding!
When each player joined the team, they signed a contract with Colangelo for four major tournaments. The players promised that they would not refuse to be called up unless due to injury and would participate in all major world tournaments between 2006 and 2012!
Of course, the same goes for head coach K. He also signed a 12-year contract with the team, and no matter what the results are or how the team performs, he will not be dismissed!
It's also worth mentioning that Kobe Bryant originally wanted to join this team. He was the absolute leader that Colangelo scouted for the team and was the second player over 25 years old on the team after Battier.
However, Kobe was diagnosed with a knee injury after the Finals and had to have fluid drained for treatment. Therefore, Kobe will not participate in this year's competition, but he will play for his country again in the next year!
That's why we did it.
To put it bluntly, it means that Colangelo surrendered!
After Colangelo lost to Lin Tian in 04 despite fielding his strongest and most elite forces, he finally understood.
He believes that a hastily assembled team, after only one month of intensive training, will find it difficult to develop genuine chemistry and understanding among its players, no matter how big-name they are. They will rely more on instinct and individual ability to play.
At the same time, the US team changes coaches every year, and if the results are not good, they change coaches; if the results are terrible, they change a whole new team. This means that the US team will come up with a completely different playing style almost every year.
If it weren't for the Chinese team, and if the American team were still the undisputed world number one, then doing this would certainly be perfectly fine.
But now with the Chinese team, and teams like Spain, Argentina, Greece, and Lithuania becoming stronger and more competitive, is the US team still playing the same old style?
Anyway, Colangelo thought this wouldn't work!
If they continue like this, the team will continue to lose games and suffer defeats time and time again.
So this time, Colangelo is determined to reform!
He was going to do something that no one had ever done before!
We identified the core players, key personnel, head coach, tactics, and system—everything was finalized. Then we got these young men in their early twenties to play together, from 2006 all the way to the 2012 London Olympics!
By that time, most of the team members were at their peak, in the best stage of their careers, and their individual abilities, teamwork, chemistry, and understanding with each other had all reached their zenith.
More importantly, according to the normal human cycle of birth, aging, illness, and death, and the increase in age, how many more years of peak performance can Lin Tian, who is already 33 years old, have left?
This year is your peak, but what about the 08 Beijing Olympics? The 10 World Championships? The 12 London Olympics? Are you still at your peak?
You're a monster!
Colangelo doesn't believe that!
Therefore, he chose to avoid direct confrontation. In this and even the next two world championships, he chose to give up competing for the gold medal and focus on team cohesion and training. He wanted to train this American team into an invincible ace team and then dominate the world once again!
As for this year's World Championships and the Beijing Olympics two years later?
If the boys are ambitious, then go for a gold medal. If their growth isn't as fast as expected, then let's just go with the flow. The important thing is to make progress, and the important thing is to give people hope and a future!
In short: We're not going to go head-to-head with Lin Tian anymore! Our American team is rebuilding!
We need to rebuild from the very basics, bit by bit.
But of course, even without fielding their best players, even without the league's top stars, this team, this team that focuses on youth, still received worldwide attention.
They may not be the top favorite to win the championship, but they are definitely the second favorite!
After all, this is Team America!
Each of these 12 players could become the absolute core or second core player in another national team!
This team may be young, but they are a dream team!
"They chickened out." That was Lin Tian's first thought after seeing Colangelo's lineup.
This guy got scared after he beat him up!
They actually came up with a team composition that was developed through training.
"It's all thanks to our Brother Lin, he's the best in the world!" Several young men in the group immediately showered Lin Tian with compliments, their smiles beaming.
With the previous generation aging, the Chinese team has brought in quite a few new players this time.
Among these newcomers, there are those who will become the absolute core of the national team in the future, as well as those who are just passing through because they have been in good form for the past two years.
Now, after a period of special training and closed training, the team's 12-man roster has been announced.
Point guards: Lin Tian, Liu Wei, Chen Jianghua
Shooting Guards: Zhang Qingpeng, Wang Shipeng, Sun Yue
Small forwards: Zhu Fangyu, Du Feng
Power Forwards: Yi Jianlian, Dazhi
Centers: Yao Ming, Mo Ke
This 12-man team includes many of Lin Tian's old friends, but also quite a few newcomers, especially in the backcourt, which has undergone a complete overhaul!
Apart from Liu Wei and Lin Tian, the remaining four backcourt players are all being selected for the national team for the first time!
Of course, Li Nan's inability to be selected again due to injury is one reason, but the bigger reason is that Hu Weidong and others have really reached the age where they should retire after achieving their goals.
With two top stars like Lin Tian and Yao Ming on the team, it's definitely time for the team to make some bold changes.
Chen Jianghua is 17 years old, Yi Jianlian is 18 years old, and Sun Yue is 21 years old. If there are no surprises, these three will become the absolute mainstays of the national team in the future!
Yi Jianlian has been selected for the NBA draft for the second time and plans to participate in next year's NBA draft! He is also the most promising super rookie among the new generation!
The other two players selected for the first time are 25-year-old Zhang Qingpeng and 23-year-old Wang Shipeng. Both of them are shooters and were chosen by the team to observe and see who can take over from Li Nan and others.
Looking around the team, Lin Tian has unknowingly become the eldest brother and the oldest person!
In the entire team, Lin Tian is the only one over 30 years old!
Besides him, the oldest player on the team is Dazhi, who was born in 1977. However, Dazhi is not only 4 years younger than Lin Tian, but also one of Lin Tian's loyal younger brothers.
Time really flies!
So many years have passed in the blink of an eye.
However, Lin Tian strongly agrees with the team's proactive approach to change, rejuvenation, and future-oriented strategy.
The method he approved was to relentlessly train Chen Jianghua, Sun Yue, and others, leaving these younger guys in a terrible state.
"Give it your all, everyone! I'm going easy on you today, but when we get to the World Championships, your opponents won't be so lenient!"
This sentence became the sentence that Lin Tian said most often during training sessions within the Chinese team.
However, although the younger brothers were brutally beaten by Lin Tian, and each of them was so tired after training that they lay on the ground like dead dogs, they still liked to gather around Lin Tian and play with him whenever they had free time.
Everyone could sense that Lin Tian was doing this for their own good, so that they could improve, which was why he was targeting them so much during training!
This generation of Chinese players is quite ambitious and eager to improve themselves!
For example, Chen Jianghua. One of the reasons he is plagued by injuries is that he trained too hard. Even when he was young, the team had poor conditions and no indoor courts, only cement courts, but he still trained like crazy.
Even Sun Yue, who is often criticized for not working hard and not being ambitious, once flew across most of the United States in a month when he participated in the NBA draft in 2007. He participated in more than 20 tryouts and trained with hundreds of other rookies waiting to enter the NBA, covering thousands of miles.
You say he's not ambitious, doesn't pursue his dreams, and doesn't love basketball?
At least for now, these guys don't have those problems or issues.
"Brother Lin," the youngest, Chen Jianghua, who was sitting opposite Lin Tian, said, "Do you think I can play in the NBA?"
"I can't play." Lin Tian shook his head without even thinking. "Your strength is speed, but there are too many fast players in the NBA. Your strengths won't be shown, but your weaknesses, such as inaccurate shooting and poor playmaking, will be exposed without reservation."
"Brother, give me some face." Chen Jianghua said with a bitter face. He was really waiting for Lin Tian to give him some encouragement.
"Give me face? Aren't I giving you enough face?" Lin Tian rolled his eyes and said, "Then Hua Zi, tell me how old you are."
"2...18." Chen Jianghua paused for a moment, almost letting slip the answer.
"See, this is a truly disrespectful response." Lin Tian spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness; there was nothing he could do about the situation in China.
"Brother, what about me?" Wang Shipeng asked Lin Tian with great interest.
"Do I have to put you down?" Lin Tian was too lazy to pay attention to this guy who came to join in the fun.
I honestly have no idea whether I have a chance or not!
"But you have a chance." Lin Tian said, looking at Sun Yue. "Find your niche, develop your strengths, and don't think about becoming some kind of all-around superman. You can do that in the CBA, but if you want to go to the NBA, remember, being all-around means being all-around. Sometimes, having one trick up your sleeve is the only way to succeed."
"Different players have different roles. You need to find what makes you unique and then develop that uniqueness. That's your chance to get into the NBA."
Lin Tian said this to Sun Yue, who was standing next to him.
"Advantages, me?" Sun Yue sat there, pondering what his advantages were, and what advantages he had that would allow him to enter the NBA.
"Brother, they're here! Those little bastards are here!" Zhang Qingpeng, who was a bit crazy and particularly prone to exaggeration, shouted from afar, as if afraid that others wouldn't hear him.
"This kid will get a beating sooner or later." Lin Tian shook his head helplessly. There are two native Shanghainese players in the Chinese team, and they are both very important players on the team.
You, Zhang Qingpeng, came up here and said that all the fellow villagers were little bastards, so of course we'll find a chance to teach you a lesson!
"Let's go, get ready for the match." Lin Tian took the lead in standing up, stretched, and said, "We have to play well, don't embarrass ourselves."
Today, there was a warm-up match, or rather, an internal training match.
This is the opponent that the Basketball Federation found for the Chinese team: the Shanghai team from the CBA.
However, the Shanghai team is no longer the CBA powerhouse it was a few years ago. Since Yao Ming left the team, it has been mediocre. Now, the team's star player, Liu Wei, is still with the national team.
Anyway, it's just practice, a chance for everyone to get a feel for real matches and warm up. Both teams are rivals in the league, so everyone knows each other well and there's no need to worry about playing badly or hurting feelings.
Even some of the young players from the Shanghai team came to see their idols.
Seeing Yao Ming didn't evoke any particular feeling in him, since he saw him every year. But when he saw Lin Tian, he could sense that several people's gazes were different.
It's incredibly hot!
Unfortunately, Lin Tian couldn't remember the names of any of these people.
I don't know them at all.
There wasn't even a familiar face among them.
There's nothing we can do. It would be a miracle if a team that's at the bottom of the CBA had any players that Lin Tian was familiar with besides Liu Wei!
This practice match was like a fan meeting; it wasn't a high-quality match, more about both sides getting a feel for the atmosphere. The two sides played fairly harmoniously.
After realizing that the intensity of the game was not enough, head coach Jonas made a series of questionable moves.
For example, let Liu Wei and Yao Ming return to the Shanghai team, or just write down a score where the Chinese team is 20 points behind the Shanghai team and let the Chinese team try to catch up quickly.
For example, they might have fielded a lineup of four outside players: Lin Tian, Liu Wei, Sun Yue, and Zhu Fangyu, along with a general pure offensive lineup.
In short, this match was just a matter of getting some sweat out. Although Jonas kept scribbling in his notebook, everyone knew that whether the match was played well or not could not be taken as a reference.
Insufficient strength.
Fortunately, the Chinese team is about to embark on another journey. They will first go to Beijing to participate in the Stankovic Cup, where they will play several matches against some of the world's strongest teams, before heading to Europe for a month-long international training camp.
During their training camp, they will play against teams from France, Germany, Greece, and Lithuania, among others. These matches are all of very high quality, featuring some of the world's best teams.
After these training camps conclude, the Chinese team will be heading back to Asia, specifically to Japan, to prepare for the World Championships at the end of August.
After the game ended today, the kids from the Shanghai team were very excited. They lined up one after another to take photos with Lin Tian, shake hands with him, chatted for a bit, and some of them, being overly friendly, insisted on having a meal together.
Lin Tian handled these situations with ease; they were all his own people, so he was just chatting for fun!
However, as they chatted, Lin Tian noticed that among all the players on the Shanghai team, there was a child with a still-childish face sitting alone in a corner, not talking to anyone or participating in any small talk or social interaction.
As someone who frequently plays RPG games, Lin Tian knew very well what it meant when a guy like this, sitting in a corner, appeared.
He's either an NPC randomly placed there by the system, or he's some hidden important figure; getting close will definitely activate a quest.
Lin Tian, who always strives for 100% collection when playing games, certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity.
Go strike up a conversation! (End of Chapter)